It's Not a Sales Tool, It's a Hearing Aid

When it comes to your prospects, information is invaluable.
If you can find out who they are, what they read, where they work, what they do, how they think, what’s important to them and how to reach them, you’re off to an awesome sales start.
In light of the digital revolution, however, there’s another piece of information that might be even more valuable than any of those: What they’re saying.
That’s the biggest misconception about the web, more specifically, social media. It’s not a sales tool, it’s a hearing aid. It’s not a cash register, it’s a listening platform. And it’s not a device for tricking people into giving you money, it’s a direct channel into how and why they make decisions.
People are sharing more ideas, more experiences, more opinions and more thoughts than ever before in history. And all you have to do is listen. All you have to do is care enough to understand their world. That way, you can help people with what they’re already doing, instead of artificially squeezing yourselves into their overcrowded lives. That way, you can learn how you fit into their world, not how they fit into you marketing plan.
And if you’re lucky, what they’re saying will soon include something positive about you.